Over the past several months, The Dallas Express has highlighted the city’s growing problem of homelessness and vagrancy. Now, even Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has recognized the city’s “scourge of homelessness.”
“Like almost every major city in the nation, the ranks of our homeless population have swelled in recent years,” the mayor said in his State of the City address on Tuesday.
However, while he acknowledged that homelessness is a growing issue in Dallas, he claimed the city has “made strides” in its response to the problem.
“We’re clearing and cleaning encampments — hundreds of them,” he said.
Jennifer Brown, the city’s public information manager, told The Dallas Express that “nine encampments have been sustainably closed through the Dallas R.E.A.L. Time Rapid Rehousing Initiative.”
The mayor continued, “We’ve partnered with numerous nonprofits and service providers to get people the help and the housing they need. We’re buying up old hotels for supportive housing, and we’ve provided inclement weather shelters so we can keep vulnerable people safe when the weather becomes extreme.”
Johnson claimed the city’s rehousing initiative has taken nearly 1,300 people off the streets in 2022.
According to Housing Forward, the city’s nonprofit partner, the initiative has housed 1,220 individuals since its inception in August 2021, with the goal of rehousing over 2,700 homeless people by October 2023. There are currently 1,934 individuals enrolled in the program.
“We know that addressing homelessness will be one of our toughest challenges in the years ahead,” the mayor continued. “People who are experiencing chronic homelessness continue to seek shelter on our streets, our sidewalks, and our underpasses that are filled with tents, sleeping bags, and waste.”
Johnson acknowledged that homelessness and vagrancy are problems that affect not only those living on the streets but other Dallas citizens as well.
The Dallas Express has previously reported on a panhandler allegedly who allegedly harassed and violently threatened a woman at a Dallas gas station, yelling, “B*tch, I’m gonna f**cking slap you!” as she attempted to fuel her car.
“Dallas is a city of love and empathy,” Mayor Johnson said. “But we’re also a city that cares about health and safety and respects our residents who simply want to walk to work or into one of our public libraries without being accosted and without fear.”
Johnson announced that in the coming weeks, he will “name a task force of stakeholders and experts to develop recommendations for better coordinating our homelessness response.”
“Their North Star will be simple, and it’s this: we need solutions,” he said. “But this is not a City of Dallas problem alone to solve. The City of Dallas has generously extended a helping hand to people in need, but that has also meant we’re sometimes left holding the bag for our entire region.”
In his speech, Johnson called out Dallas County for not taking more action in the fight against homelessness and vagrancy, saying, “While this is a major public health issue, and Dallas County is our contracted public health authority, the City of Dallas has nonetheless been the most proactive governmental authority entity dealing with the issue in our region.”
“We will look to our county governments to play bigger roles,” he said. “We will look to regional entities to take up this issue. We will ask our neighboring cities who haven’t joined our efforts to do so now. And we will ask our state and federal partners to help us care for our most vulnerable people.”
Johnson concluded, “If we’re going to move the needle on homelessness, it’s time to employ the same all-in, ‘kitchen sink’ approach that we’ve used successfully to improve public safety and economic development in our city.”
The Dallas Express’ summary of Johnson’s full State of the City address can be found here.
The mayor’s address comes during his declared “Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week” (November 12-20), which he announced last week amidst rising vagrancy and homelessness within the city, as previously covered by The Dallas Express.